> First i create boot directory in the tomsrtbt ramdisk and copy the
> boot.b
> file from tomsrtbt and configure the lilo.conf in /etc. Then i tried
The boot directory and the boot.b file _must_ reside _on the device
which is going to boot_, in this case, I assume, your hard drive...
> Second attempt: in the NFS filesystem, i've got an almost complete
> Linux filesystem created in a directory called linfs, where i placed
> the complete lilo program (and the libraries needed, of course) and
> the
> lilo.conf file. Then i executed:
> chroot /linfs /sbin/lilo
> and the result was:
> "Fatal:Triying to map files from unnamed device 0x0002 (NFS ?)"
You cannot lilo across NFS, period. NFS does not give direct
access to the geometries and areas necessary for booting stuff.
> Third attempt: i mounted a new ram device with a new Linux filesystem
> and
> the complete lilo program. Then i tried:
> chroot fs /sbin/lilo
> or
> lilo -r fs
> ---> Error was "Trying to map files from RAM disk. Please check -r
> option o ROOT enviroment variable" in both cases.
Again, lilo should be installed on the hard drive, not the ramdisk.
> What i need:
> i want to install lilo in the hard disk, so that the operative systems
> installed on it can boot, with my lilo.conf file configuration. And my
> question is, is there any trick to cheat lilo to do so?
>
>
> Uff, i think now it's better explained!!! If anything is not
> understood, please report.
You don't really need a trick. Something like:
mount /dev/fd0u1722 /fl
mount harddrive /mnt
mkdir /mnt/boot
mkdir /mnt/etc
vi /etc/lilo.conf
cp /fl/boot.b /mnt/boot
lilo -r /mnt
(I'm sure I'm missing things, but basically, it should just work).
The important thing is that you must either:
(A) Run lilo *directly against the device you are installing it on,
so that *at run time* it can investigate the geometries, etc.
(B) Tell lilo *exactly* what the device is going to look like.
Look at buildit.s on tomsrtbt! It builds a lilo bootsector *FOR FLOPPY*,
*IN A RAMDISK*. But it must specify *ALL THE GEOMETRIES AND BIOS INFO*!
Much better to run lilo *against the boot device, if you can!*
In buildit.s:
lilo -C -<<-!
boot=$RD
disk=$RD
bios=0x00
sectors=$SE
heads=$HE
cylinders=$CY
install=$MP/boot.b
message=$MP/settings.s
backup=/dev/null
map=$MP/map
timeout=150
read-write
vga=ask
prompt
image=$MP/$KERNEL
root=$FD
append="load_ramdisk=1 prompt_ramdisk=0 ramdisk_start=$O1 parport=0x378,7"
!
Note that because lilo is not *running installing to the floppy*, I have to
tell it that the floppy is BIOS device 0x00, how many sectors, cylinders,
heads, etc. If I had run it *against the floppy itself*, I would not have
needed any of these parameters!
Normally with a hard drive, lilo is run with the boot= set to the *real
hard drive* and lilo figures the rest out!
-Tom
